refs are back tonight. nfl. "morning joe" starts right now. >>> romney just released an ad in which, for the first time he speaks directly to camera. in all the other ads, you don't see him talking to the camera. you just hear his voice and see him walking around. the goal is to show he does care about americans who are struggling financially. he does a pretty good job with it. >> it many americans are

the old plan. we can't afford four more years of the last four years, all right? >> reporter: governor romney not only says he would stop shrinking the military but would add to the active duty force and one of the biggest cheers came when he quoted ronald reagan. >> peace comes through strength. i want to have a military that's so strong no one wants to test it. [ applause ] >> the people that are out there fighting these wars, we owe them support forever and i think governor romney is totally supportive of that. >> reporter: but that's not the opinion of veteran jim dillard who represented springfield for 30 years in the virginia house of delegates. >> they talk about cutting the domestic spending by 20%. if they do that, that's $11 billion cut for veterans program. i don't think veterans ought to be the ones to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. so we need a president who is going to look out for veterans, look out for the middle class and lead us back to prosperity. >> i need your help. we've got to win in virginia. >> reporter: peggy fox, 9 news now. >>> president obama spent his m

virginia. thank you so much for your time. we have romney and obama in virginia right now. we have this segment called purple rain for a rain. it's solidly purple, and this is an interesting race for many reasons in virginia. what are you watching? >> the problem in virginia for the romney campaign is they're on the defensive on all the issues, on the economy, women's issues, national security, all of issues that are important they're on the defensive right now. they don't have an issue opening to press the obama campaign on in virginia. they're behind on the economy, which was supposed to be president obama's weakness. so i think they're really in trouble in virginia. we've seen a slip on the part of the romney campaign since the convention, so whatever that convention bounces, it turned into a convention slide in virginia. we have a series of polls out now that show the gap widening between obama and romney. i think the romney campaign needs to find an opening, a gap to shoot in virginia on that issue. they need to press that gap. >> it's interesting you say that the spokesperson

and mitt romney will be making stops. >> right now monika tells us where commuters are making stops along the roadway. >> it's been slow in four corners north of the beltway with an early morning accident. pepco crews are on the scene trying to fix the problem with only the left lane getting by westbound university boulevard here at royalton road. i'll be back with more traffic coming up in a few minutes at 6:30. you're watching 9news now. >>> we're back at 6:29. this is the place to always get your weather first. here's a live look at the bridge. lots of sparkling headlights. >>> thanks for starting your thursday with us. i'm mike hydeck. >>> i'm andrea roane. meteorologist howard bernstein is live on the weather terrace with our forecast. howard? >> it's nice out there, milder than it has been in the 60s so you can leave the jackets at home. you might need the rain gear up north. we've been watching a few showers straddling the maryland- pennsylvania border. we have a lot of breaks in the overcast. clearing out here in d.c. as you can see from our michael & son weather camera look

how important this handful of swing states are. president obama and mitt romney are following each other from one battleground state to another. on wednesday ohio was their target. >> you probably are aware that there's an election going on right now in ohio. >> i believe you're going to help me win ohio. >> reporter: today it's a quick flight to virginia. >> we're a compassionate people. >> reporter: on wednesday romney tried to convey a more empathetic candidate. >> we're a charitable people. >> reporter: recent polls shows romney trailing the president on the question of which candidate cares about my needs. but time is running out for governor romney to change voters' minds. early voting is under way in two dozen states. it starts today in iowa and next week in ohio. that has both campaigns stepping up their advertising in see swing states. >> we should measure compassion by how many people can get off of welfare. >> reporter: romney released a new 60 second ad. president obama has out spent mitt romney on tv ads and the attacks have resonated with voters like this republican.

. >> reporter: mitt romney getting a lot of advice right now, just six days away from the first presidential debate. >> unbelievable, first to have three. all right, paul steinhauser, thanks so much. >>> 54 minutes past the hour. a heads up if you're traveling in the northeast. a dreary start weather wise. rob marciano has all of the details for us. good morning. >> good morning, guys. the good news is, it's not only the northeast. so you're not in this alone. >> misery loves company. >> exactly, guys! listen, a little stream of moisture, it's not a whole lot right now, at least east of new york city, pretty dry right now in boston, but west of new york through jersey and the delaware valley, some heavier pulses of rain moving the through there. up the ohio river as well, across the mississippi and into the boot heel of missouri, we're looking at thunderstorms. some of these are dumping a decent amount of rainfall. they will take it in oklahoma, where they could certainly use the rain across western parts of the plains as well. they don't really want the severe weather. that's a possibility,

a continuation of the old plan. we can't afford four more years of the last four years, all right? >> reporter: governor romney not only said that he would stop shrinking the military but would add to the active duty force and one of the figures came when he quoted ronald reagan. >> peace comes through strength. i want to have a military that's so strong no one wants to test it. >> the people that are out there fighting these wars, we owe them support forever and i think governor romney is totally supportive of that. >> reporter: but that's not the opinion of veteran jim dillard who represented springfield for 30 years in the virginia house of delegates. >> now they talk about cutting the domestic spending by 20%. if they do that, that's $11 billion cut to veterans programs and i don't think veterans ought to be ones to pay for tax cuts to the wealthy and so we need a president who is going to look out for veterans, who will look out for the middle class and lead us back to prosperity. >> i need your help. we've got a win in virginia. >> reporter: peggy fox, 9 news now. >>> presid

election going on right now in ohio. >> i believe you're going to help me win ohio. >> the romney campaign released a new one-minute ad trying to dispel the image that he's out of touch with ordinary people. early voting is already under way in two dozen states and it starts today in iowa and ohio it's tomorrow. >>> game on for real. the regular n.f.l. referees will return to the field for tonight's game in baltimore. >> thank goodness. the league reached a contract agreement with the refs two days after face-to-face talks following that disastrous end to monday night football. kristin fisher is live at fed ex field with an explanation on how they pulled off this de. good morning, kristin. >> reporter: good morning. well, the n.f.l. and the referees union leaders has been negotiating this agreement for almost a year since last october. one of the big holdups has been the issue of the referees' pensions. well, it appears that finally just before midnight the two sides were able to reach a compromise and here it s. these are just some of the materials of this eight-year collective bargaining

the rest for some nation building right here at home. it's time for a new economic patriotism, rooted in the belief that growing our economy begins with a strong, thriving middle class. read my plan. compare it to governor romney's, and decide for yourself. >> again, this is a two-minute ad, unusually long in politics these days. the president goes on to promise to create more than 1 million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years if he is re-elected. >> mitt romney also stumps today at a campaign event with veterans, as he continues to get questions about his compassion for the middle class and struggling americans. romney in an interview with nbc news pointed to his universal health care law, passed when he was massachusetts governor, saying, "i think throughout this campaign as well, we talked about my record in massachusetts. don't forget, i got everybody in my state insured. 100% of the kids in our state have health insurance. i don't think there's anything that shows more empathy and care about the people of this country than that kind of record." but he also repeated his

right now. >>> romney just released an ad in which, for the fst time he speaks directly to camera. in all thether adsyou don't utr hce a see g t thecamera him walking around. the goal is to show he does care about americans who are struggling financially. he does a pretty good job with it. >> it many americans are struggling to find work in today's economy. too many of those whore payc.ng are liaycheck to acare ling in poverty than when president obama took office. and 15 million more are on food stamps. my plan will create 12 million new jobs over the next four years. we shoul'teasure compassion by how many pele are on wee. hosuomio by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good paying job. i'm mitt romney, and i approved this message. >> i think that ad just makes my odorning, it's thursday, september 27th, as you take a look at a wet times square in new york city. i'm in chicago this morning, but with us in new york city wh willie geist, our national affairs editor for "new york" magazine andnbit analyst, john heilemann. also former treasury official and "morning joe

is not being taken into account in a lot of these polls. but doug is right to say that we have to deal in reality, and reality is obama may not have this kind of substantial lead but he certainly is leading. i think team romney now understands that. we're five weeks away from the campaign, from the election, rather, and what you're seeing from the romney campaign is a real focus. five weeks away. obama is leading. by at least a little bit anyway, if not tied. so this really does focus the romney team's mind. martha: which brings up a great point, doug. psychologically, what is the impact of seeing these numbers which we have all been used to seeing neck-and-neck throughout the process? you suddenly see these big swings where looks like president obama is leading by a lot. it does a couple things. it may motivate and put fire under the romney campaign but also may make democrats overconfident. >> well, i think it also could, well create some enthusiasm for the democrats. that's not a partisan statement. martha: could be. >> it could also, martha, and this is something that i think

many in our country right now. i want to help them. i know what it takes to get an economy going again -- again and creating jocks. >> the latest poll shows president obama is up points over mitt romney nationwide. alison burns, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> 8:17. there are threats of a boycott against the san jose supermarket because it is using e-verify. [chanting] >> they say they have no choice. it has to comemploy with the homeland security request to use that system to check the employment eligibility of its employees. the protesters are demanding they stop using that system by october 8th or they will face a boycott. >>> the decade long mystery about the disappearance of michigan union leader jimmy hoffa may finally come to an en. investigators not a tip saying a body was buried at a hope at the same time a steamster's boss disappeared. a radar confirms that something is buried beneath the slab and michigan police plan to dig there tomorrow. >>> testimony continues in the deborah madden case. after today's testimony wraps up, the court will recess the jury tomorrow and closing